Topic: So, You Can Now Ignore Users

@Maxenmus yeah, in an ideal world we wouldn't have features like this... but I think actively trying to help and solve problems rather than simply ignoring them is the better direction, even if things need to change and evolve over time.

The alternative approach might be to start banning people who are making the site uncomfortable for multiple other users; there would be a lot of nuances there, and people would still feel aggrieved. We would rather give users the option to resolve matters themselves than step in like that.

Like all things, there needs to be a balance though. Maintaining an affable and friendly atmosphere in your establishment is sometimes more important than the freedom of speech. If people are causing trouble in a diner, the diner owner kicks them out to prevent the other customers from having their meal disrupted by two drunkards roughhousing with each other.

One reason why I would choose to stay in forums like NintendoLife for the long term is because of said affable atmosphere, where no one attacks others for their opinion or make other users feel uncomfortable or unwelcomed in any shape or form. Just saying.

@antdickens @Eel Thanks for taking the time to clarify, it’s much appreciated. While I still stand by what I said earlier, I can understand your point.

So just to be clear, you can block users yourself under the ignore list in your profile? This doesn’t require a mod right?

@exit that's correct, it's an additional step after you have already ignored someone.

@Maxenmus I totally agree with that sentiment, strangely some people don't understand the analogy and feel that if we ban them, we're removing 'free speech'. It's exactly as you put it, if they aren't going to behave in our house, then we're entitled to eject them. We have now banned over 7,500 users over the years... so it's safe to say we've been doing what we can to keep it an affable atmosphere!

@exit - Looks like this all wrapped up with a nice bow by the time I got back around to it, but again, no, you don’t get ignored randomly. That’s not how it works. You have to bother someone. So much that they push two buttons. Maybe three. These are worldwide forums with hundreds or even thousands of posts, some a decade old or more. You’re not being excluded if someone ignores you. It’s one drop in a large pond. Try not to annoy people and you won’t get blocked. Try not to let it bother you if you do, because it’s not a big deal.

@bimmy-lee Yeah I know. I hear what you are saying. My point was simply sometimes we have no control over that. Someone simply might not like your view, or like you said earlier, how you present it.

To be fair, I only noticed that somebody must of blocked me as I could not see a few posts that were made in the latest topics. I’ve had no interaction with the person, or even know who it is, so I assumed I was blocked by something I said. After a little search it lead me to this thread. I think a little discussion around it is fine.

All good over here.

Just neco-ing this thread. I've been a bit ticked off for a while that Anti has blocked me, I assume they have blocked half of the users of this site. I'm fairly sure I and others would have been blocked by this user for something as innocuous as saying we like Nintendo's first party output or similar

Now, I'm not a fan of this feature generally. This is a small community, we can all see each other, we know when posts are happening. Conversations aren't the fly-by experience you get on Reddit etc. The point of a forum is that it is not that. I'd rather this feature just straight up not exist, if people are harrassing others the solution is to ban those users

But even where this feature might have has some merit, as a kind of semi-ban, I feel like in this particular case it is being abused. There should at the very least need to be mod approval for a block and/or a limit/cool down on the feature

@skywake I have felt the same way since it was implemented and even voiced the same thing to the staff. I was told by Ant Dickens himself that it is staying the way it is and they are not changing it or removing the feature.

@skywake Why do you think it's being abused though? I mean, why must everyone see your comments?

I’ve been meaning to ask what is the limit on the ignore list? I don’t think I have it it but yeah just in case.

While I haven't used ignore and block on this site, it's an extremely important feature.

Yeah, the Ignore button is just one of those things that's at the discretion of the user and that's that.

So long as they don't also hit the Report button, don't worry about it. It's them, not you.

I also haven't ignored or blocked anyone. But as a comment, the fact that ignore is essentially private but block sort of broadcasts to the blocked person who it is who blocked them is kind of a weird feature. I don't actually know a good way to improve it, but it's odd.

I agree with Grumblevolcano that having at the very least an ignore is definitely useful in some cases. As for the people who use it or block far more than others... it causes some confusion in conversations occasionally and I can imagine it being used as an indirect way to insult someone. I realize these rules probably won't change, but I kind of like the idea of some limits as Skywake suggested. For example, if ignores/blocks timed out after awhile. People stay on this site for years and most of them are capable of growth and change so it's a little weird to have someone blocked for e.g. a miscommunication which happened 2 years ago. Personally I'm all for second chances if the person hasn't actually done something bannable, even if the second chance is after a long 'time out'... as a sometimes moderator on a different site, I've noticed timeouts remarkably often fixes behavior. It's not a huge deal, but it would make the community a little friendlier if perma-blocking tons of people wasn't quite as easy.

Not talking about ignoring here, I'm talking about blocking. I'm not too fussed if people choose to use the site in a particular way even if it involves filtering out my posts. I don't do it personally but how they interact with it is their own business

But blocking is a step above. When you block someone you also impact on their ability to use the site. I see people interacting with Anti, I see him comment on posts. But I can't view his actual post unless I open an incognito tab. A tool that powerful should have restrictions

I'm of the view that blocking shouldn't exist at all. If someone is being that disruptive that blocking is required surely it needs to be more than just their ability to see posts from one user. At that point it should be a straight up ban. But if it is to exist it should require moderator involvement or have some kind of limit

I think features like blocking should be one-way on a forum site. Basically allow others to still see your comments, but you just don't see the person you blocked's comments. That way you can still utilize the site if someone blocks you, as otherwise there's a ton of missing context. I've been blocked by a few members in the past, and it always made discussions hard to get involved in as I was missing crucial context. It felt like I wasn't "banned," but that I couldn't really engage in most of the same topics as the other members that blocked me.

@VoidofLight You can still see the full conversation in incognito mode if you really want, but I agree the default view feels really weird. Like if you reply to someone with a bunch of details to a question, not realizing someone you don't see already said the same thing. It somehow makes the whole discussion a little worse, not just for you but also for everyone else. I suppose even ignore does some of that, but not as much as block does.

@skywake Ah, I hadn't realized that was a function. I can't seem to find that function anywhere. How do you block people?

edit: nvm I figured it out.

I don't see the point of that actually. If you ignore someone they practically don't exist. How does blocking change that experience for the blocker? Yeah, seems pointless.

@VoidofLight @FishyS That was my main argument is that it just messes up conversations. As you guys mentioned you may be repeating something that a someone had said but you have no idea that they said that cause the blocked you and it just makes it feel awkward.

Not only that but I find honestly find it quite rude that users can have private conversations in a public forum. By letting users block people it starts to make the forums like a bunch of cliques and it divides the forums instead of bringing us together.

Putting a timer on the Block feature doesn't seem a bad idea, assuming it's straight forward to implement, but given how easy it is to circumvent a Block, I'm not sure the benefit of the feature outweighs the cost.

I have used Ignore a lot in the past, but I do hold ad hoc amnesties and wipe my list clean.